JED: When did REI begin making spectrum analyzers, and how has the company evolved this product line?
LJ: Research Electronics International (REI) was established in 1983 and developed a wide variety of countersurveillance products, including broadband receivers. In 1994, REI introduced the OSCOR 5000 Omni Spectral Correlator; a transportable spectrum analyzer with a 3-GHz frequency range (21 GHz with an optional Microwave Downconverter (MDC). OSCOR 5000 was replaced by the OSCOR Blue in 2010. OSCOR Blue and subsequent models were developed to be smaller, faster, more portable and easier to use while improving features and performance.
JED: What are some of the electronic warfare trends you are seeing, and how are these driving applications for portable spectrum analyzers?
LJ: Field personnel need to quickly and easily assess signal activity in any situation. This requires analyzers that deploy rapidly and provide immediate information. They need to detect, identify, and analyze enemy radio signals, communications methods, and potential threats, often in real-time, especially in situations requiring rapid situational awareness.
Handheld analyzers are portable and quickly operational. They’re self-powered, self-contained, and quick to activate. They must display a broad frequency range and a high level of information.
REI makes the user interfaces easy to navigate and understand so that a wider range of personnel with varying technical aptitudes can competently conduct sweeps with confidence.
JED: Please tell me more about REI's spectrum analyzer family and how each of these products meet various EW applications.
LJ: Our OSCOR Spectrum Analyzer is portable and detects unknown, illegal, disruptive, interfering and anomalous rogue transmissions across a wide frequency range. It has a built-in auto-switching antenna system that displays 24 GHz of data, allowing continuous sweeping without stopping to change antennas, and it surveys RF activity without missing signals due to limited frequency range or from having to switch antennas saves time and provides more information faster. The on-board interface and the touchscreen control put all the data and analysis features in the user’s hands.
Our MESA 2.0 Mobility Enhanced Spectrum Analyzer is a smaller more tactical analyzer with a frequency range to 6 GHz (12 GHz with the down converter antenna). MESA 2.0 is also touchscreen controlled and has a user-friendly interface with full on-board spectrum analysis, and operation modes for detecting and displaying WiFi, Bluetooth and Mobile Bands. MESA 2.0 has a range of antennas for varying situations. It is more compact, portable and lightweight, weighing less than 2.5 lb. Variable Bandwidth resolution allows it to sweep faster at 312.5 kHz resolution (200GHz/sec). It has specific sweep modes for WiFi, and Bluetooth that provide additional device details. SmartBars is a patented mode that quickly detects new energy in an environment.
JED: In addition to the hardware performance, does REI develop software features that address EW applications?
LJ: REI spectrum analyzers provide a way to quickly determine what signals should and shouldn’t be there. They include software features like SmartBars and RSSI graphs to indicate when a suspect transmission is getting closer or farther away. They provide many of the common display features like Persistence, Raster Waterfall, Peak Trace and other display features that show different perspectives on signal behavior.
JED: REI provides comprehensive training center for its customers. Do some of your military customers take advantage of this?
LJ: REI conducts over 50 regularly scheduled courses throughout the year and provides many custom courses at REI and at the customer’s location. Many active duty, government and contractor personnel, as well as law enforcement, corporate and private security students attend REI training. We offer a 3-level progressive curriculum. REI training courses teach basic and advanced signal detection techniques and include hands-on exercises in dedicated project rooms. Course schedules are posted on REI’s website.